School Law Bulletin #1997/02

This is Part II of the four-part series discussing issues of liability in school volunteer programs. Part I discussed cir- cumstances in which volunteers themselves could be liable for harm they cause while performing services for a pub- lic school. A new federal law passed since Part I was written may make significant changes in the law of liability for volunteers themselves. For a brief discussion of this law, see the sidebar “Part I Revisited: Liability of Volunteers Themselves” on page 4. Part II addresses the potential liability of a school board for its own negligence in circum- stances where a volunteer is harmed, or causes harm, during school service.